An automated low-cost modular hardware and software platform for versatile programmable microfluidic device testing and development

Abstract The development of functional microfluidic devices requires multiple iterations of the design, fabrication and testing of an initial concept. Much attention in the literature has been given to improving the design of microdevices, and several rapid-prototyping techniques have been created to fabricate microfluidic structures in the past decade. However, little attention has been given to the testing phase of this iterative process, which is as crucial as the other steps. Testing results “make or break” a concept, and therefore is perhaps the most important phase in design iteration. Conventional approaches to testing microdevices typically require fixed mounts as testbeds, which are usually machined in hard substrates and do not allow for rapid modifications. This, in turn, limits alterations in the design of microfluidic devices, imposing an unnecessary constraint in the iterative development cycle. To alleviate these issues, we present here a new approach to test microfluidic devices by using modules. The modular system contains hardware that can be rapid-prototyped, if needed, speeding up the testing of devices without imposing restrictions on the design of devices. Another innovation presented here is the creation of a new, object-oriented-style language to automate fluidic manipulations in Programmable Microfluidic Arrays (PMAs). This open-source automated computer application, written in Python, requires from the user only the positioning of reservoirs containing reagents, their mixing ratios and the output reservoir, rather than traditional “long-list” or machine-code level programming, representing a significant development in operating these systems. This work decreases the development time and resources required to make functional microfluidic devices, at lower costs, which is an advancement over conventional approaches.